Fats Domino

Born into a musical family, Antoine “Fats” Domino began playing piano for small change in New Orleans honky tonks at the age of 10. When he was 14, he dropped out of school, took a day job at a bed-spring factory, and began spending his nights in clubs. It was at the Hideaway Club that he was first nicknamed “Fats.” It was also there that bandleader Dave Bartholomew discovered Domino. Their first session, in 1949, produced “The Fat Man,” Domino’s first R&B hit. Over the next 10 years, Domino scored such smashes as “Blueberry Hill,” “Blue Monday,” “I’m Walkin’,” “Valley of Tears,” “It’s You I Love,” “Whole Lotta Loving,” “I Want to Walk You Home” and “Walking to New Orleans.” Fats Domino sold more records (65 million) than any other Fifties-era rocker except Elvis Presley. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.